


Surprise Ending

by shiny_glor_chan



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Secrets Are Hard To Keep In SEES, Surprise Party, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 15:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20819504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiny_glor_chan/pseuds/shiny_glor_chan
Summary: It begins with Shinjiro planning to make a surprise birthday dinner for Akihiko's birthday. Too bad everyone in this dorm can't keep their noses out of other people's business.





	Surprise Ending

**Author's Note:**

> So a lovely anon asked: "Y’know what would be cool? If you wrote a fic when in canon Shinji and Mitsuru spend all day on his birthday planning him a surprise, like a cake and presents in his room when he comes home. It goes horribly off the rails and they get busted by almost the whole team and basically everyone joins in to give the good boi a happy birthday."
> 
> And this 2k fic happened a week later. Because why would I write things on time? Ohgod.

Shinjiro stares at the sorry state of the S.E.E.S.'s dorm kitchen and starts making a mental list of what he needs to get in decent shape what he has planned. It doesn't take long to figure out he'll need Mitsuru's help on this venture, since the kitchen has next to no baking supplies, let alone anything to Shinjiro's standards.

“Why do you need baking supplies...?” Mitsuru asks curiously as Shinjiro shows her the calendar hanging on the wall behind her. “It's mid-September-? Oh, Akihiko's birthday.”

“He'll whine if we don't do something for him,” Shinjiro says with a smirk, and Mitsuru hides a chuckle behind her hand. “I can surprise him since he's been saying I never cook for him, but this kitchen is shit, Mitsuru.”

Mitsuru hum, tapping her chin. “I'll call Kikuno to order supplies. If you give me a list, I should have them by tomorrow.”

Shinjiro snorts as he grabs a notepad and a pen, scribbling down his cookware needs. “I'll buy the food, and we can plan out how to keep this secret over the weekend.”

* * *

Unfortunately, secrets don't keep well in the dorms. “Senpai, why are sneaking around with Mitsuru-senpai?” Yukari questions him, cornering him two days before Akihiko's birthday.

“Takeba, don't you ever mind your own business?” Shinjiro asks in reply as he shuts the cabinets now filled with dry ingredients for cake.

Yukari folds her arms over her chest with an unamused look. “Mitsuru-senpai has kept enough secrets before. I thought she learned to _trust_ us.”

Shinjiro sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, we're planning a birthday thing for Aki. Keep it quiet, will you?”

“It's Akihiko-senpai's birthday?” a voice asks as Fuuka appears in the doorway to the kitchen.

“I didn't know that...” Yukari says thoughtfully then claps her hands together. “Let us help, Shinjiro-senpai!”

Fuuka nods with a soft smile. “What day is it? We could help bake the cake...”

Shinjiro only just manages to not flinch at the idea of Fuuka helping in the kitchen. “It's on Tuesday. Maybe you two can get decorations for the dorm. Aki should be at practice after school that day.”

“Ooh, that works well,” Yukari agrees before turning to Fuuka. “I have a few ideas of shops we can hit. Are you free?”

“Yes, let's go,” she replies as the girls rush out, leaving Shinjiro to wonder he's gotten himself into.

* * *

Shinjiro shouldn't have assumed Yukari and Fuuka would be the last of it. Never count Shiomi Kotone out of anything, and especially not if she has Junpei snooping with her. With a sigh, he confronts the disaster duo with crossed arms and an annoyed look as they spin around from rummaging through the high cupboards in the kitchen.

Kotone smiles sweetly while Junpei most definitely pretends he's not hiding behind her. “Shinjiro-senpai! I didn't hear you come in,” she tells him, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

“Yeah, yeah. What are you and Iori up to?” Shinjiro asks pointedly.

Junpei laughs nervously before Kotone elbows him in the gut, ever so not lightly. “Getting some food, of course. Snacks are important!”

“Yeah!” Junpei adds, gripping his stomach a bit. “We're going upstairs to study!”

Kotone shoots him an incredulous look as Shinjiro shakes his head. “Let Shiomi do the talking in the future,” he states as he walks over to the cabinets to make sure nothing he needs for tomorrow is missing. “No one in this dorm would believe you're studying willingly.”

With a sigh, Kotone drops her innocent act. “You and Mitsuru-senpai have been sneaking around. So have Yukari-chan and Fuuka-chan. We want in, whatever this is.”

Junpei nods vigorously, though he does let Kotone do the talking; he's learning. “Fine,” Shinjiro yields as he checks to make sure no one is outside the kitchen or on the stairs. “It's Aki's birthday tomorrow. We want to have a surprise ready for him when he comes back from practice.”

“Damn, I didn't know it was Akihiko-senpai's birthday!” Junpei exclaims as Kotone nods in agreement.

“I wish Akihiko-senpai had told us... I could have gotten him a gift,” Kotone says thoughtfully before clapping her hands together. “Well, then leave it to us, senpai!”

Shinjiro's eyes narrow as Kotone's face brightens, the first sign of a plan being concocted. “What are you up to?”

Kotone smiles widely. “Junpei and I will make sure he doesn't come home early! We'll watch his practice tomorrow and keep you up to date!”

“Trust us, Shinjiro-san. We can do this. Kotomin always has solid plans!” Junpei adds, swinging an arm around Kotone's shoulders.

Shinjiro's not sure he agrees with that statement, if some of the bangs and bruises the team has gotten in the reaches of Tartarus has anything to say for it, but he decides they're not worth fighting. “Fine, but do not tip him off,” he warns as the two nod furiously.

“No worries! We've got this handled!”

* * *

In the end, Shinjiro gives up on the whole dorm _not_ knowing about the surprise. Koromaru snitches on him to Aigis. Kotone apologizes as she leaves for school, as she told Ken, since she didn't want to leave him out of the loop after Aigis found out. As long as Akihiko remained oblivious, Shinjiro doesn't care anymore.

Luckily, Akihiko didn't notice the whole dorm conspiring against him before school, and Shinjiro hopes it stays that way. “Aragaki-san, shall I set the table for Sanada-san's surprise birthday meal?” Aigis asks as Shinjiro take the the cake safely out of the oven.

“Hmm? Yeah, that'd help, Aigis,” Shinjiro replies as he mentally ticks off tasks from his list. “You think you can handle decorating the lounge? Takeba and Yamagishi left a bag of decorations in the cabinet above the fridge.”

Aigis nods. “Affirmative. I will do my best.”

Shinjiro finishes making all of Akihiko's favorite foods as he hears Aigis move around the lounge. It doesn't make for a super balanced meal, so he decides to add a salad to the table. There's rice keeping warm in the rice cooker, all the making for gyudon staying warm in a pot, and a tray of sweet potato fries.

The cake has been cooling for a while, and there's just enough time to frost it and add strawberries. He doesn't hear any crashes from the lounge yet, so he sets the cake aside before heading out of the kitchen. The decorations looks sound, for the most part, except for some of the streamers now adorning Aigis' hair.

“Is this adequate, Aragaki-san?” she asks, looking proud of her work.

“Yeah, it's fine, Aigis,” Shinjiro replies as the front doors swing open, and several things happen at once.

Yukari drags Mitsuru along inside with her as she and Fuuka giggle. Ken follows behind them with Koromaru hot on heels. The chaos doesn't truly begin until Kotone and Junpei tumble inside, out of breath and whisper-shouting for everyone to hide. Shinjiro doesn't bother at first, but Kotone drags him down behind a couch anyway.

It doesn't take long to figure out why Kotone and Junpei had been running. Akihiko barrels inside, looking a little furious before he blinks in confusion at the colorful streamers and decorations all over the dorm's lounge.

Kotone grins as she count to three not-so quietly and urges everyone to yell surprise. They manage it, but not in any coherent way. Shinjiro just covers his face with his hand. Akihiko laughs as his dormmates crowd him with birthday wishes.

“Did you suspect, senpai?” Kotone asks, bouncing on her heels. 

Akihiko snorts. “Nothing until you two knuckleheads showed up at practice with your scheming,” he points out, and Kotone at least looks abashed.

“This was all originally Shinjiro's idea, of course,” Mitsuru points out, ignoring the glare Shinjiro gives her for it. “He made all your favorites.”

The real, honest grin on Akihiko's face makes all the nonsense worth it, even Shinjiro will never let him know as he shrugs and tries to will away the blush creeping into his cheeks. “Happy birthday, Aki,” he says then adds with a smirk, “don't say I never cook for you.”

“Shinji...” Akihiko says, sounding choked up, and Shinjiro needs to put a stop to that immediately.

He smacks Akihiko in the back of head. “None of that shit, or I'll let Iori eat your share.”

Everyone laughs as Akihiko pouts. They all head into the dining room part of the lounge together, and by the time the main course and the cake is devoured, everyone starts to go their separate ways. Some murmur about food comas and not needing to eat again for a week.

Akihiko stays behind, watching Shinjiro clear away the dishes he'd insisted he'd take care of himself. “If you stand around watching me clean up, I'll make you help, your birthday be damned,” he warns his best friend who shrugs and starts collecting the dirty dishes from the table.

“I don't mind,” Akihiko tells him, and when they get the dishes to the sink, they split the tasks of washing and drying between them. “...thanks, Shinji. That's the best birthday I've had in while. Definitely the most delicious one, hands down.”

“Don't get used it,” Shinjiro grumbles as he pass Akihiko another plate to dry.

Akihiko smiles, wiping the plate in his hand dry before placing it on the pile he's made on the counter. “You could just take a compliment instead of saying you won't cook for me anymore,” he teases.

Shinjiro shrugs, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn bit of food. “Yeah, well, I don't like compliments.”

“Nah, you just don't know what to do with them,” Akihiko points out. “You're pretty amazing, Shinji. Just acknowledge it. It wouldn't hurt.”

“It's not whatever you say just because you're the birthday boy,” Shinjiro replies, rinsing the plate then handing it off.

“You sure? I think it should be,” Akihiko says then laughs. “You know, I wanted to do something more than just say thank you. Would you blame me if I did?”

Shinjiro stops mid-scrub, setting the plate down before turning Akihiko. “Yeah, what's that? Don't tell me you want to fight.”

Akihiko laughs as he sets down the clean plate then dries off his hands. “Nah, kind of the opposite,” he says quietly. “I'll let you punch me if it's a bad idea.”

“Aki, a lot of your ideas are bad ideas,” Shinjiro warns as he tries to figure out Akihiko's intentions. “I'm not going to get blamed by the whole dorm for giving the birthday boy a black eye.”

“Then don't,” Akihiko replies before moving forward in a mostly fluid motion, his hand grabbing the back Shinjiro's neck

Shinjiro freezes in surprise as Akihiko's lips meet his. It's not what he was expecting, but it's not unwanted by any means. He doesn't kiss back right away, and it's only when Akihiko starts to pull away that he reacts. Shinjiro wraps an arm securely around Akihiko's waist and kisses him back.

Akihiko melts against him the kiss heats up, tongues sliding against each other before they pull apart. They don't move far, and Shinjiro rest his forehead against Akihiko's. A please smile graces Akihiko's lips as his hand at the nape of Shinjiro's neck curl in the hair there.

“I thought it was just me...” Akihiko admits, and Shinjiro watches him before pulling back just a bit.

“I hadn't thought about it before you kissed me,” Shinjiro tells him truthfully. “...now I can't stop thinking about it... Dammit, Aki.”

Akihiko laughs as he pulls Shinjiro down for another kiss, short and sweet. “That's fine. I haven't been able to stop thinking about a moment like this since you came back.”

Shinjiro sighs, ruffles Akihiko's hair, and steps back. “We're not going to make out in the kitchen and get caught by our kouhai,” he states firmly.

“What I'm hearing is the making out is fine, as long as we're behind a closed door?” Akihiko asks cheekily, and Shinjiro swats at his arm with a dish rag.

“After the dishes are done,” he adds, “or we'll have to deal with Mitsuru coming for us.”

Akihiko's face blanches at the thought, grabbing a dry dish rag. Shinjiro laughs as he gets the last dirty dishes into the sink of soap water, and it takes no time at all for them to finish. Without the looming execution for shirking clean up duties hanging over their heads, Akihiko takes Shinjiro's hand and leads him back to his room without another protest.

**Author's Note:**

> [My persona tumblr.](https://memoriesofyourdread.tumblr.com) Come over and say hello. Cry about AkiShinji with me. <3
> 
> Also this fic almost ended up gen? But I eventually got my ship in there, because I can never help myself. XD


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